Asheville,
NC – The Buncombe County district attorney has released bodycam footage
that showed a motel patron stabbing an officer before he was shot by
police.

The incident
occurred at the Town Motor Lodge at approximately 7:45 a.m. on May 11,
after Asheville police received a report that a man was “screaming and
damaging property” inside one of the rooms, the Buncombe County District
Attorney’s Office said in a press release.

Asheville Police
Lieutenant Michael Lamb responded to the scene and spoke with the motel
manager, who identified the man causing the disturbance as 37-year-old
Jonathan Bedrosian.

Lt. Lamb indicated he was familiar with Bedrosian, and that he and other officers had dealings with him in the past.

“Jon is a drug addict but he’s also, I think, a schizophrenic,” the lieutenant explained to the motel manager, according to WLOS.

The manager told police that Bedrosian had checked in a few days prior, but that he was no longer welcome at the motel.

“He’s just been on a tangent,” the manager explained. “I want him out. He’s got to go right now.”

Lt. Lamb and the manager headed over to Bedrosian’s unit, but the irate man refused to come outside or to leave the premises.

Bodycam footage
showed Lt. Lamb and other officers as they strategized how to best
handle the situation, and discussed their prior dealings with Bedrosian.

One occasion included a 10-hour standoff, the officers said.

“Last time he had a
knife,” the lieutenant calmly told the officers. “He was completely
naked and kept saying he was going to cut his private off.”

Despite requests
from the manager and police, Bedrosian refused to exit his motel room
and “could be heard inside the room screaming, yelling, speaking
gibberish, and singing songs,” the press release said.

After they
unsuccessfully attempted to enter the room using the manager’s master
key, Lt. Lamb climbed up to the balcony of Bedrosian’s unit instead.

Once upstairs, he made his way to a sliding door that was partially ajar, and began to slide it open.

“As Lamb began to
open the door, Bedrosian charged at Lamb with a box cutter in his right
hand and began stabbing and slashing Lamb,” the district attorney’s
office said.

As the lieutenant struggled with Bedrosian, seven gunshots rang out, the video showed.

Even after the shooting, Bedrosian was combative while officers secured him in handcuffs and began to render first aid.

During a press
conference Tuesday morning, Asheville Police Chief Tammy Hooper said Lt.
Lamb followed protocol and had acted in self-defense, WLOS reported.

“[Lamb] had more
than seven cuts and slashes and stab wounds to his head,” Chief Hooper
explained. “He also had a stab wound to his upper chest, and he was also
cut underneath his arm.”

Lt. Lamb and Bedrosian both survived the altercation.

“I am very grateful for the outpouring of support from our wonderful community,” Lt. Lamb said in a news release, according to WHNS. “My family and I truly appreciate the prayers, phone calls, and letters that we received from everyone.”

On Aug. 20, the district attorney cleared Lt. Lamb of any wrongdoing.

Bedrosian pleaded
guilty to assault with a deadly weapon on a governmental official and
assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill, and was sentenced to
36 to 56 months in prison, according to the district attorney’s press
release.

He was also ordered to receive psychiatric treatment, WLOS reported.

You can watch bodycam footage of Lt. Lamb’s encounter with Bedrosian in the video below:

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